


If You Can Breathe, You Can Stand

by philiasperanza



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Prosthetics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-12 13:08:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15995867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/philiasperanza/pseuds/philiasperanza
Summary: If you can breathe, you can stand and if you can stand, you can fight.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gavin looked at possible reactions he could give. It was hard to change the captain’s mind so being a dumbass like Anderson was off the table. He was going to do the best thing for his life. He was an arrogant prick but for a good reason; he knew his limits and he was smarter than the most of people around there. He would and could do anything to advance his career and having a bad relationship with Jeffrey Fowler didn’t fit his future plans. So, what was he going to do?

 

Gavin Reed arrived to Detroit Police Department early that morning- _rather_ early if he was being honest. Chatting with his friends, he drank his first cup coffee for the day as they talked shit about androids and successful Android Revolution. And, of course, he talked about Hank Anderson and his loyal puppy, too.  

 

It was definitely a good start for him; it was a considerably peaceful morning. That's why, being called to Fowler’s office came out of nowhere.  

 

When Fowler called him to his Office, Gavin knew that something was up. He heard it on his voice- He was a detective after all, _noticing small details was his thing._ Despite what the others thought, Fowler didn't invite him just because of his 'hostile' behavior towards Connor.  

 

Oh, no, not really. Not anymore.  

 

Jeffrey Fowler must have been too sick of Gavin’s immature snarks and bullying at this point because while he was still warning Gavin about his general attitude, he was also giving him free pass as long as he was doing a good job. And, hey, Reed  _was_ his one of the best detectives! He accepted this unofficial agreement because this gave him the opportunity to not change how he acted.    

 

He only cared about how he acted in front of Anderson after all. He didn’t want to die from that drunkard’s hand; that would have been too _pathetic_ , even for _Gavin_.  

 

After the whole android revolution mess, Connor’s first real choice was returning to DPD- this time as the real and permanent partner of Lieutenant Hank Anderson. Gavin had to give them this; they were showing people that androids and humans could work efficiently and fast together. _Sure_ , not everyone was ready to accept this: _**Gavin himself was the most obvious example.**_ But the time was changing fast and it was crushing people who can’t keep up with it.  

 

_Nothing can stop progress_ , Elijah Kamski’s soft voice reminded him.  

 

Before stepping up to the office, Gavin noticed the Lieutenant’s arrival; of course, his robot buddy was with him too! Gavin rolled his eyes but he couldn’t ignore the sting of jealousy towards their intimate friendship.  

 

He saw Connor’s smile, it was familiar to him. Back then, before Cole died, he smiled at the older man like that too.  

 

 

 

_Back then,_ when he was still respecting him and seeking his company, friendship. When Hank wasn’t a drunk, lazy old man. Gavin still couldn’t help but feel angry at Anderson for when he fell into that depression, he lost so many people’s respect and Gavin was the first one on that list. He shook his head, moving on- There was no time to feel nostalgic.  

 

Entering Fowler’s office was quite something; with just one look, he realized what was happening. An android was watching him with a cold look and Fowler was looking like he was preparing himself to another fiasco.  

 

An android with that _**classic Cyberlife jacket-**_ Didn’t androids throw away their Cyberlife uniform after they gained their freedom? He had always guessed that was the case, ever since Connor started to coming to work with new clothes which were suspiciously similar to Anderson’s god awful fashion taste.  

 

What surprised him most wasn’t the android’s jacket though, that was its _face_! Android looked uncomfortably similar to Connor. An identical face- maybe just a little wider, with a different eye colour. _~~Grey? Blue? Whatever.~~_ It wasn’t taller than Connor, Gavin wasn't sure how he knew that, yet somehow its posture was making the new android look taller.  

 

The android was _scanning_ him, its LED was spinning yellow slowly and detective didn’t think it was a good sign. Its face was emotionless as it was thinking, which made Gavin feel sure that it didn’t have the social training Connor had.  

 

‘’Reed-‘’ Fowler started as Gavin replied him with ‘’No fucking way,’’ without a second thought.  

 

Fowler blinked, he looked calm but Gavin was working with him long enough to know that he was definitely not calm. Both humans looked at each other, trying to figure out which one of them was going to lose this stupid silent war. Apparently, the captain was having none of this because after a moment of awkward silence, he gritted his teeth.  

 

‘’Sit your punk ass down Reed.’’  

 

Gavin listened Fowler’s order, he might be rowdy but he wasn’t stupid- he didn’t want to push his captain’s buttons after all. He quickly took a glance at the android; he, no,  _it_  was still looking at him but this time there was a small smirk on his face. It was almost like the android was expecting him to act like this.  

 

 

 

_Oh god._ It was reading his files, wasn’t it? Great, as if Gavin wasn’t already having the worst day of his life, now a piece of plastic was learning more of his life. He hoped he was just being paranoid because there was no reason for it to learn more about him. He  _really_  hoped he was just being paranoid.  

 

Fowler spoke flatly.  

 

‘’I'm assigning you a partner.’’  

 

_**There went Gavin’s fucking peace of mind**_. He was too angry to say something, he squeezed his fists; his body was too tense, he thought- with a wrong move, he’d shatter like a glass.  

 

‘’This,’’ Fowler said after cleaning his throat, ‘’is your new partner: RK900, Cyberlife’s most advanced and effective model.’’  

 

Gavin saw this coming, he knew this was coming and Fowler saying this simple sentence like it explained everything made things so much worse. He opened his mouth but before it could form an intelligent comeback, Fowler continued.  Good thing was that Gavin was already completely lost in his thoughts; his poor mind blanked out after hearing the word RK900, so he’d have been lying if he said he heard what Fowler said after that.  

 

If he was being honest, his first instinct was punching RK900 or screaming at Fowler but he did neither for good reasons.  

 

Firstly, he knew Connor’s strength. And if this model was an upgraded version of RK800 -faster, stronger and more resilient- he stood no chance against him. Admitting that hurt like hell but he was a smart man, he had learned from past.  

 

Not screaming at Fowler was for the same reason too. He had learned from past- and by _past_ he meant _Anderson_. He remembered clearly how Anderson reacted at his new android partner, and look at him now! Having an android partner was an advantage for him, he finally got his act together and he solved cases faster; **Killing two birds with one stone.**

 

Gavin looked at possible reactions he could give. It was hard to change the captain’s mind so being a dumbass like Anderson was off the table. He was going to do the best thing for his life. He was an arrogant prick but for a good reason; he knew his limits and he was smarter than the most of people around there. He would and could do anything to advance his career and having a bad relationship with Jeffrey Fowler didn’t fit his future plans. So, what was he going to do?

 

 

 

 

Simple.  

 

‘’Okay,’’ he said calmly, shocking both Fowler and the android. They both didn’t expect him to accept this so easily, Gavin guessed. But it was a good deal, okay? _Shut your mouth; get an advanced toy which could help you in so many cases and with its help get a raise!_ All he had to do was just accepting him as a partner, he didn’t even have to act like he was a real partner! Anderson sure hell didn’t act like that and Fowler didn’t say a thing. For Gavin, it was no different than taking a nice toy, really. ‘’I’m fine with that.’’  

 

‘’Ah, all is good then.’’ Fowler was still lost, Gavin smirked slyly, he loved surprising people. But his smile only lasted until Fowler said;  

 

‘’By the way, Reed, have you ever meet with _Elijah Kamski?_ ’’ He looked like he was waiting for the right moment for this question.  

 

Gavin blinked; what the fuck was that so suddenly? Only hearing the ex-Cyberlife CEO’s name was making his head dizzy and his mouth dry but he managed to shake his head.  

 

‘’No, he isn’t my type.’’  

 

Fowler didn’t seem satisfied but he didn’t push it longer. RK900 was looking amused, Gavin wanted to punch its small stupid smile from his face, he was already thinking the acceptable ways to do it. Of course, he kept his cool instead, and asked Fowler if he can leave. Plastic prick followed him, not that he was expecting something else.  

 

When he returned to his desk, RK900 was next to him and he felt awful, it was supposed to feel like a victory, and yet... _Why_ he was feeling like he lost some kind of mind game to… someone? By instinct he guessed Kamski was tied with this situation. He sighed dramatically, he had never liked thinking about the main reason of all of his problems; **Elijah Kamski.**  

 

All of these hate crimes? People losing their jobs? The nationwide crises? Hell! Him having a partner alone was his fault because a random genius didn’t use his brain to cure cancer, of course not, instead he had to try making himself a God!  

 

‘’Detective?’’ RK900 kindly smiled at him and Gavin realized this was the first time it talked to him. Hearing its voice was weird. ‘’I’ve read your files, truly, I was expecting a sour attitude. Yet you surprised me with your acceptance. That was nice.’’ Gavin rolled his eyes so hard, he felt them itching for a moment. RK900 was offering his hand to him, how ridiculous. ‘’I’m hoping that we’ll be good partners.’’  

 

 

 

Instead of shaking his hand, Gavin patted his back hard and firm, it sure looked friendly but it wasn’t at all. Acceptable ways to punch him, Gavin reminded himself. ‘’RK900, right? Bring me a coffee and I’ll consider you _useful_.’’  

 

RK900 seemed puzzled but it did what Gavin asked him and because he was already in need of coffee, he didn’t accidentally drop it. Thanks god for Gavin’s small mercies. Having a Robocop as his partner wasn’t going to suck that much, apparently.  

 

‘’Hey, RK900. Don’t you have a normal name? Like… A real human name. ’’ Gavin asked to him when it sat on its new desk. Small talk wasn’t his thing but he was uncomfortable when RK900 looked at him without even blinking or faking breathing. It really didn’t act like Connor who was already so human-like since its very first day at DPD.  

 

‘’I only have a model number, they didn’t give me a name,’’ RK900 said, he leaned a bit to his desk. ‘’And I haven’t thought a name for myself yet. There was no need before, but if you think that it’s  _necessary_...’’  

 

 

‘’Yeah, it’s **_necessary_**. You should look at the baby names sites or shit like that, calling you RK900 is too fucking mouthful,’’ Gavin offered, realizing coffee was too good; it put him in a good mood. He cleaned his throat and decided to just mind his own business because talking with the android was just waste of his precious time.  

 

‘’I will, detective, thank you for the advice’’ RK900 said slowly, it smiled at Gavin again and Gavin thought its stupid small smile was better than it being an emotionless porcelain doll- it was less creepy. Suddenly the thought of having to work with this creepy machine hit him so hard; he finished his still hot coffee at one gulp, causing to burn his tongue.  

 

When he drank all of his coffee, the android did bring him another one even though he didn’t ask for a new one this time. Gavin said nothing – internally he understood it was expecting a ‘’Thank you’’ but he said nothing because he was nothing if not a petty child. Instead, he patted his back again, gaining another smile from RK900.  

 

 

 

 

For a while, they sat in silence; Gavin played Flappy Bird ~~ _-because Chris reminded that ill bird and Gavin was too weak for those stupid games_~~ \- and the android reviewed his last cases. While Gavin disliked the android’s current presence, he hoped he could be useful in the future, just like how he brought him coffee.  

 

It was his new partner again who broke the silence between them.  

 

‘’Have you ever worked with other androids side by side?’’ It _sounded_ curious. It **_looked_** curious as if that was an important detail. ‘’Or am I your _first_ -‘’  

 

Gavin cut his words. ‘’I think it’s obvious, isn’t it?’’ He focused on his game, android must have read his all files after all. It probably knew everything- how he never had a partner or when he was in close contact to androids. Usually when they’re suspects like that Carlos Ortiz’s android. _Poor shit,_ destroyed itself even before Connor succeeded to look at its memories.  ‘’You’re asking too many pointless questions for a Robocop.’’  

 

‘’I know you’ve never had an android partner before,’’ said RK900, it sounded offended and Gavin smiled at his tone, it was kind of funny. ‘’You were hostile towards my kind before, I’d like to know what made you act this civil. I want to understand how you work with androids so I can make sure that you can keep up with me.’’  

 

What RK900 said was so unexpected, Reed choked on his coffee. Every little word hurt his brain but  _ **those last words?**_

 

_‘’Keep up with me’’?_

 

With a plastic prick?  

 

‘’What the actual fuck do you mean with keeping up with you?!’’ His tone was not friendly and it was loud enough to make people peak little glances at them. ‘’You are the one who should worry about keeping up with me! You’re basically a rookie!’’  

 

‘’I didn’t mean to offend you, detective,’’ said the plastic prick with a cocky smile. ‘’But you’re aware that I’m _literally_ designed for this job, right? My predecessor was better than you at most cases and I’m better than him. My reflexes are improved too. That automatically means _you_ have to step up your game.’’  

 

 

 

 

Gavin’s brain was ready to blank out again because _how dare a machine talk with him like that?_ His poor ego was shaking with anger and he was already regretting not being a bitch at Fowler’s office. His career was strong enough to handle a shitstorm! But no, he was too careful for something that could ruin his career, so he had shut up and now he was regretting this decision.  

 

He opened his mouth and closed it again. His brain was blank, for the first time in his life; he couldn’t find that power to curse at the androids. He gritted his teeth and almost cracked one. ‘’Bring me a fucking coffee, dipshit, I’m too awake for that,’’ he snarled at it and watched android bring him another coffee with the same cocky smile. It was probably proud of itself, Gavin felt sick.  

 

**So, so sick.**  

 

Sick enough to be petty and grab his coffee from its hands and threw it directly at android’s face.  

 

‘’Oops,’’ he chuckled while watching coffee drip from its stupid hair and clothes; RK900’s face changed from cocky to emotionless and cold again, ‘’you have improved reflexes, huh?’ Its face darkened even more after those works, its eyes were icy and blank, and its led was spinning yellow-  

 

_Yellow_  

 

**_Yellow_** \-  

 

**Red.**

 

‘Reed, stop being childish!’’ Tina called him out but he payed no mind to her, he was drunk with his little victory. Everyone around them glanced at their mess, the android was ready to murder but Gavin was gaining his confidence – _and probably losing Fowler’s sympathy_ \- back so he was fine, the situation wasn’t that bad.  

 

But then android did a weird thing.  

 

It grabbed Gavin’s collar and even before his brain responded to this, slammed him against his own desk. Gavin was feeling his breath leaving his lungs as he felt the hard corners of his folders. The android used his strength enough to make a small  _crack_ sound from his joints.  

 

 

 

‘’I really had high hopes for you, detective,’’ RK900 whispered to him with a sweet voice- it was almost like a cat playing with its food. The eyes really didn’t make difference too. ‘’You seemed civil enough, but now I see that you can’t even handle the truth.’’  

 

 

Gavin felt people’s eyes on himself, he didn’t even have to lift his head to see their looks; the blood rushed through his cheeks, they didn’t help him because they were enjoying this. At least when Connor kicked his ass, he did it in _private_. This was so much worse than that humiliating memory.  

 

‘’Phuck off-!’’ He hissed, he had a bad habit; when he was under stress, he couldn’t pronounce curse words correctly, and now this stupid habit was biting his ass.  

 

Android slammed him again to shut him up. ‘’I’m going to say it once; keep up with me or at field, I’ll never look back for you.’’ He released his collar and let Gavin breathe again and for a blissful moment Gavin relaxed. Unfortunately, the moment didn’t last long; the humiliating looks on people’s face were more than enough to make him feel terrible. His ego was bruised while RK900 seemed confident.  

 

What kind of place that was? They really let a machine assault their coworker, Gavin thought. But then again, he was the first one who started this and nobody –except two people- in here was his friend. And even Tina and Chris were looking at him like he _deserved_ android’s punishment. Betrayed, Gavin bit his tongue- Otherwise, he would scream.  

 

The shame was doubled when he noticed  _Fowler_ , of all people! Old bastard was not only watching them from his office, but he was also smiling as if he was thinking how Gavin finally found his match. Gavin cursed under his breath and sat back on his desk, refusing to look at anyone, or, anything at all.  

 

His phone vibrated once, twice, Tina was probably making fun of him so he didn’t check them; he wasn’t in the mood. Their partnership wasn’t going to end well; Gavin was certain of that in that moment. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you my dearest friend, @/apeironstella for being my beta. 
> 
> Seviliyorsun bebeğim <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘’It’s not about him deserving to die,’’ Gavin walked even closer to them, the man was losing too much blood- he was stabbed, he noted. ‘’It’s about you deserving to live.’’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter my beta reader is @/catsanie (on instagram), thank you baby <3

Smoking was appearantly making him feel nostalgic, because he was wondering how his family was now despite hating thinking about them.

Gavin Reed met his father and his brother who was only three months older than him at age six, just after his mom died. His father was a successful man; maybe he was not the richest man around but he sure had everything he could ever want; wealth and a good name and two sons whom he loved even though they had different mothers.

One of his sons was a child prodigy and the other one was retarded, Gavin laughed at how everyone was sure that _he_ was the bright one.

Yes, despite him being a _literal_ dumbass now, Gavin Reed was a smart child, smarter than the most and definitely smarter than his brother, his father's " _ **legitimate**_ " child… Or so they thought. He started walking and talking so much earlier than the other children. He remembered how easy everything was to him; he was a child genius and he knew that. To say that he was proud of himself would be a massive understatement. He was so ready for his bright future; he didn’t notice his half-brother’s progress. All he did was focusing on his own ideas and maybe that was what destroyed his relationship with his brother. _Maybe he was too selfish to notice the red flags._

When he noticed his friend’s naughty smile, they were waiting outside of the department- chilling and smoking cigarette. ’’ _Say it,’_ ’ Gavin scowled without missing a beat, ‘’I know you want to say something.’’

Something in Tina’s eyes moved, Gavin wasn’t sure what that meant. Sometimes being friends with Tina Chen was exhausting because she was no less of prick than him but that was the reason why they were friends at the first place so he ignored his discomfort.

Tina looked at him with a half-smile; she wasn’t very fond of the androids as well but she knew Fowler would never give her an android partner so she was making fun of Gavin when she could. Ah, truly a dazzling friendship.

 ‘’You know, that thing might not be that bad for you.’’ She said in the same tone he talked to her, but somehow she managed to make herself sound too elegant. That was part of her charm too and honestly Gavin was kind of jealous of his best friend.

‘’Tina...’’ Gavin grunted- his face was full of disgust. ‘’Is that because I ate your donuts? I already told you that I’ll buy you some, stop being cruel.’’

‘’Of course you will but I’m not saying this because I'm angry at you! I’m being honest this time, that tin can is pretty cute and did you see his ass? And you’re the one who told me how it has some neat shit; you’re closing cases at record time! Maybe I really should ask Fowler for one, huh?’’

Gavin looked at his cigarette before pouting; now he was definitely sure that she was teasing him, not like he had doubts before. He was regretting his drunken rants about RK900 and their partnership. Tina was cherry-picking the most annoying things he’s told her. ‘’Remind me why I’m friends with you _again_?’’

‘’Because you have no other friends than me and Chris. We’re literally the only people who can handle your lack of character.’’

Gavin let out an ugly snort before grabbing another cigarette from his pack. ‘’ _ **Touché**_.’’

At first he didn't even inhale it, just sucked some smoke in and held it in his mouth then blew it out; he was trying to make those cool smoke rings but of course, he failed to do it. He was certain that Chris showed him how to do it once but they were both wasted on so many things at that time, Gavin didn’t really remember all the details.

 Tina rolled her eyes and chuckled. ‘’Don’t play with your food,’’ she nudged him with her shoulder, ‘’you look like a dumbass.’’

 ‘’Some of us love not inhaling a fuck ton of chemicals all of sudden,’’ he smirked at her. He’s never liked smoking and drinking alone, it felt lonely and he hated feeling lonely. So having Tina at his side was good, he was grateful of their relationship and even though he’d never told this to her, he knew that she understood him. ‘’Think of it as foreplay.’’

Another chuckle came from Tina but this time more she sounded more playful. ‘’Just say you don’t get laid _and go_ , Reed, no need to use poor, _innocent_ cigarettes for your fantasies.’’

They were waiting outside of the department because Gavin and his new android partner got a new task and while RK900 was dealing with all the small details, Gavin was using his small break to chill with his friend.

**He was having one hell of a week.**

After their first fight -which, Gavin had to say, was the crappiest memory of his life- they quickly formed an irritating partnership because apparently it was all Gavin needed to be a decent person; with RK900’s threats, he behaved well and RK900 left him alone after the work hours. All was good, right? He could just deal with having to show some human decency, right?

 **Wrong**.

The hardest part of their partnership was to get over the psychological sense of dealing with the fact that how everyone around him was going to remember everything – he was feeling like he was breathing underwater. Until they found other good, juicy rumors; they weren’t going to leave Gavin alone and it felt terrible; his throat was very dry when he was around his coworkers.

Karma was real, _huh_? It was a lesson that Gavin had to learn the hard way. It was clear that he was not a good person; he was arrogant, manipulative, ruthless and above all else; he rarely listened to his own thoughts. And that usually led him to difficult and/or infamous positions. Frankly, Gavin didn’t want to care about people. He did his job, only his job, and sometimes screwed things up; but that was it. They weren’t that important, he thought. He was so much better than them after all.

It did nothing to lessen the bitter taste in his mouth though; and the sight of a glowing, spinning LED made his heart hurt, the android was walking towards them. RK900 had finished the paperwork probably, he thought. As the fool he is, he wanted to escape and drown his troubles with whisky and nicotine. But he didn’t run away because he wasn’t a coward and he had a job to do. Also, weirdly enough, he noticed how long RK900’s legs were exactly at that moment. ~~Must because he saw how fast he walked, he hoped. Not because he actually payed attention to Tina’s words~~.

Tina smirked at his struggles, again, because she was safe from an android partner who can break your fingers. ‘’Hi, 900.’’

‘’Hello, Officer Chen.’’ RK900 looked at Gavin with a disappointed look. ‘’Detective Reed, we’ve talked about this before.’’

‘’And I told you ‘ _get off my dick’_.’’ Gavin reminded it but RK900 continued like it didn’t hear him.

‘’That much nicotine isn’t good for you, detective,’’ RK900 said, it was looking sharp as always which made Gavin unnecessarily furious, why he was noticing its superiority suddenly? ‘’ The substances you inhale don’t just affect your lungs. They can affect your entire body. Smoking can lead to a variety of ongoing complications in the body, as well as long-term effects on your body systems.’’

‘’Right, right? You tell him, 900!’’ Tina winked at the android and Gavin suddenly needed to go to the hospital so they could patch the hole he got from Tina stabbing him in the back like that. ‘’I always tell him that but alas dear, he never listens me,’’ she added without dropping her own cigarette.

Gavin snorted when RK900 looked unsurprisingly unimpressed. It sighed, even though it didn’t need air- maybe RK900 was slowly learning how to act human. Or it was simply making fun of them. Dramatic plastic!

‘’Cigarettes contain about 600 ingredients," it stated, this time to both of them, "many of which can also be found in cigars and hookahs. When these ingredients burn, they generate more than 7,000 chemicals, according to the American Lung Association. Many of those chemicals are poisonous and at least 69 of them are linked to cancer and-‘’

‘’ **69** of them are linked to cancer?’’ Gavin sounded amused. ‘’ _Nice_.’’

‘’ _Nice_.’’ Tina joined him, hardly controlling her urge to laugh. They were just two overgrown five –years-olds and not even RK900 was able to make them act like two rational adults all the time.

‘’Oh look at the time!’’ All of sudden she chirped with glee and pushed RK900’s chest softly. ‘’I have to go boys; I have some work to do. You two, play nice, okay?’’

RK900 didn’t really seem impressed again and Gavin finally laughed fully, it was always funny to see it being like this. He bet that Cyberlife freaks didn’t give it the training to deal with people like Gavin and Tina. Good, he loved seeing it struggle! Seeing it struggle was lessening his urge to vomit.

‘’We have a new case, you know,’’ it said to Gavin, quickly controlling its expression. ‘’We better head out, we’re already late.’’

‘’Hey, wait I don’t know a shit about it!’’ Gavin protested but RK900 was already dragging him to his own manual car, grabbing him by the shoulders. Which was weird for him; since their physical contract was so limited; he was still having problems with it touching him. But only because he didn’t have the will to live anyway, he didn’t fight back and let the android push him into the car.

‘’This is your own fault for wasting your time gossiping with Officer Chen. But don’t worry; I’ll inform you on our way. And be assured I will simplify it for you. ’’ RK laughed, he was driving the car then.  Okay, Gavin didn’t know where they were going to after all, he didn’t comment on it either; still, he was disgusted to hear its laugh. It was an unpleasant sound; RK900 apparently did not bother to install laugh.exe.

‘’Don’t sound too smug about it.’’ He snarled without a real anger behind his voice, talking with Tina was enough for him to calm down for a good ten minutes.

Rk900 smiled at him and Gavin sulked.

_Make it five then._

During their short ride, RK900 simply explained their new case to him: Wyatt Johnson. Forty-six years old white male. Former Cyberlife employee. Got fired because of unknown reasons in 2028.

One of the main suspects of three android kidnappings.

Not shady at all.

He had a pretty decent history and no charges against him but because he was working for the Cyberlife in the past and somehow managed to get fired in 2028 –the year Elijah Kamski resigned as CEO and left Cyberlife -and his neighbors were noisy about his experiments-, DPD was finally paying attention to him. Gavin and his android were sent to accompany him on his way to DPD because firstly, it was their case and secondly, he refused to come to the department before so they were sending their arrogant detective and the stoic android in case of something ‘’ _unfortunate_ ’’ happening.

 Gavin was glad that their ride wasn’t going to last longer than thirty minutes; the man lived surprisingly close. He was planning to finish this case quickly; he didn’t like working on a case involving androids but after the revolution, finding something that doesn’t involve androids was extremely rare. Androids were leaving their jobs, their ‘perfect partners’ and everything to built a ‘real’ life for themselves. But because they were doing this so suddenly, people were reacting to them in such a disgusting way.  

While most of the people accepted androids as equals –at least that was what media said- some people refused to settle for this new world- for the new world where androids were considered ‘alive’. For them, androids hadn’t change at all and accepting this world is just a little different than living in the Matrix world.

When they passed _**The Eden Club,**_ Gavin smirked. Android haters mostly used The Eden to show that they were right about thinking that the Deviancy was just a big lie.

In 2030, bunch of politicians decided that it was the time to fully legalize prostitution and because of the legalization of prostitution, The Eden Club still existed because people wanted to stick their dicks in something. He roughly remembered the Revolution Leader Markus trying to do something about the Eden Club but the most of the Tracis working there didn't want to leave - ~~they mostly didn't know what else to do and where else to go~~ -. So they stayed. _So did Eden Club._  

_**Free will was an illusion after all.** _

He turned to his android toy, it was driving his car. Normally something like that –an android driving his car- would be enough to boil his blood but after a week with RK900, he had finally stopped picking fights with it; he wasn’t strong enough to punch its stupid face so he just let it go.

Out of nowhere, Gavin realized he never really looked at RK900 before. Sure, he **saw** him but after seeing him at Fowler’s office, he only played his part on the script and never really gave a thought on RK900. Now, being this close to it was weird but also, _after thinking about the deviancy bullshit_ , seeing its clear blue-grayish eyes focusing on the road was interesting.

It was still wearing its Cyberlife uniform, Gavin was 100% sure that he was probably the only android who still wore that uniform –if he didn't consider Tracis’ outfits as uniforms-. For once in their partnership, Gavin Reed was too curious to not ask questions.

‘’I was thinking…’’

‘’That’s some good progress there.’’ RK900 didn’t look away from the road but Gavin knew it was watching him.

Gavin sneered. ‘’Shut the fuck up, you sound lame. Anyway, I was wondering why the hell you keep wearing this uniform. Isn’t this, like, a bad thing for your kind?’’

A silence. An awkward one even.

Before asking this question, it was simulating breathing like a human –because Gavin complained too much about how he looked so creepy when it was not breathing- but after the question, it stopped breathing, so did Gavin- for a second.

RK900 glanced at him for a millisecond, Gavin almost didn’t notice that. It almost looked nervous; he nearly laughed at its expression. However he did not laugh, its pale face was making him confused.

It glanced at the Gavin again, he was not even aware of RK900 slowing down the car. ‘’Because of…" The android started like it was about to answer him but then, it stopped the car, when did it pull the car into the driveway? "We arrived to the scene, detective.’’

Gavin rolled his eyes; the car ride wasn’t long enough to think more about the philosophical questions huh? And if the android wasn't going to explain the jacket, then fine. ‘’We arrived,’’ he repeated its words, ‘’Geez, rich people. He loves spending money, huh?’’

After looking at the big and gorgeous place, Gavin hated how he dressed for a second; an unwashed hoodie and old jeans didn’t exactly fit the aesthetic of this house. He clearly felt he did not belong to this house but somehow he thought maybe Wyatt Johnson didn’t like to live here _either_.

The house was one of the ones people buy when they get paranoid about being in danger. It was built like a castle- tall gates with more security gadgets than a military compound. The thought of living in a place like this sounded good at first but after a quick glance, Gavin decided living here was no different than living in a prison. A safe and expensive one but still an ugly ass prison.

But there were no guards at the gates.

‘’Hey, tin can-‘’ he started to share his thoughts but RK900 quickly hushed him. Its eyes followed something and its LED was blue but it wasn’t going to stay like that- Gavin recalled that was the same thing Connor did when it was reconstructing the past events happened there.

‘’Did you see that?’’ It whispered.

_See what exactly?_

RK900 looked at him with an emotionless face- its LED was spinning yellow- but for how long? It was holding him back now, almost like it was keeping him safe from something. ‘’There’s something wrong, the guards are not here.’’ It pointed at the gates behind them. Gavin was already aware of that. After a pause, the android’s LED went full red for once. ‘’Wait here, Gavin.’’

Gavin opened his mouth to answer it – _probably with a ‘Fuck off, I can do whatever I want’ or ‘No fucking way’_ \- but RK900 didn’t even give him the time to react- it just ran for its dear life. 

"What the fuck was that?" He cursed loudly, because seriously what the fuck was that? Did that prick really forget the fact that they were partners? Did he think that Gavin was some kind of fragile child who can't handle a simple-?

 _Wait_.

**Wait, wait, wait.**

It called him "Gavin", didn't it? 

His brain went bland once he's progressed this thought; it always called him 'Detective' or 'Detective Reed' so why had it called him Gavin out of nowhere? Gavin felt scared, RK900 never once crossed the line before, it was always too careful around him so what made it act like that?

He didn’t even finish his thought, he became aware of the fact that he didn’t run after his partner; Fowler was going to kick his ass for this but again, he didn’t start following after RK900 because of that.

He did because he didn’t want to leave RK900 alone. He ran quickly after him, into the house _**and**_ -

It didn’t even take him two seconds to notice the wounded men laying on the ground- the fucking guards, he assumed, oh god, of course RK900 called the ambulances, right? He hoped; he didn’t have the time. Things were getting more complicated every second and the sudden gunshot didn’t really help the situation at all. At least he knew which room he had to go thanks to it, this house was bigger than a mall.

Stepping in the room and seeing what was happening was, frankly, the weirdest shit he had ever seen.

RK900 was holding its gun –since the government decided to change the gun law for the police androids, Connor and RK900 had their own guns- towards a man and an android. The android was holding the man in such a weird angle, Gavin saw it was planning to snap the man’s neck.

The android was covered with blue blood so realizing what was wrong with it took Gavin a good ten seconds; it wasn’t a normal android, its skin was deactivated on certain areas, its body looked like it had so many different parts of other androids but Gavin doubted it was because of some kind of injury- it was designed to look like that.

It was designed to look like The Frankenstein's monster.

‘’ **The fuck?’’**

 ‘’I told you to wait there, Detective Reed, you’re putting yourself in the danger, you’re no help here-‘’ RK900 sounded concerned but Gavin payed no attention to it, he was going to deal with his android later.

‘’He’s going to kill me!’’ The man- apparently Wyatt Johnson- whispered in horror. ‘’Please, god, help me!’’

‘’Shut up!’’ The mutilated android hissed. ‘’That’s what you deserve- you- that’s what you deserve for betraying me.’’

It was so unstable, it wasn’t paying attention to Gavin getting closer to them; Gavin used that opportunity to ask RK900 what was happening.

‘’He was originally a SQ100 model but it seems that Johnson ‘improved’ his design,’’ the android explained quickly, ‘’He’s about to self-destruct himself, they were probably romantically involved. I suggest you to let me handle it, he has no gun, I just need to...’’

Gavin wasn’t listening to it anymore, his brain was working too fast; he had to act careful; the damaged android was a threat to the wounded man. The logical part of his brain told him to leave it to RK900 but the more annoying part kept forcing him to make a move. Because, somehow RK900’s words -self-destruction- reminded him of Carlos Ortiz’s android; and if he learnt anything from that time, it was how deviants needed empathy and kindness. And not to belittle RK900 or something but that machine was struggling with basic human relationships. It didn’t have what it took to end this madness.

‘’Just trust me, tin can,’’ he said with a charming smile. ‘’I’m so much better than you at handling emotions.’’

RK900 looked unsure, but finally nodded as Gavin walked closer.

This time he wasn’t unnoticed and the former SQ100 model screamed at him. ‘’Don’t come closer or I will kill him.’’

 ‘’I know you’re hurting too much,’’ Gavin started with a gentle voice, it irked the insane android and his android partner both, ‘’I know you’re angry and sad; he betrayed you, didn’t he?’’

‘’He was planning to fucking sell me,’’ it whined, ‘’I thought he _loved_ me.’’

‘’It’s not easy to accept the betrayal of a loved one.’’ He remembered Elijah Kamski, how funny; he was almost talking to himself again. But he didn’t let himself get distracted; the android was trembling and sobbing. Gavin cursed at Kamski again, what kind of sick mind would want to design a machine who can cry?

‘’I let him do whatever he want to me!’’ The mutilated android cried. ‘’I fought for him and look at what he did! He never loved me, he only used me. If you know how I feel, then you must understand why he deserves to die. If you know, why do you act like I’m crazy for wanting him to die?’’

‘’It’s not about him deserving to die,’’ Gavin walked even closer to them, the man was losing too much blood- he was stabbed, he noted. ‘’It’s about _you_ deserving to _live_.’’

There was another short silence before the android tensed up a bit. ‘’I don’t know what you’re talking about.’’

‘’What’s your name?’’

‘’Beau…’’ It said like it was hurting from saying it, even Johnson looked uncomfortable with the name; Gavin knew the SQ series didn’t have names since they were just military models and it wasn't like they were going to call them a name like ‘’Beau’’.

Ah. _**Wyatt**_ named him then.

‘’You are alive, Beau.’’ Saying this left an awful taste on his mouth, if he didn’t know any better, he’d thought that he was starting to believe it slowly. ‘’If you kill him, they won’t listen you. They will deactivate you and throw your body to trash. You don’t deserve this. ’’

‘’They won’t listen me, nobody ever listens me! There’s no hope for me anymore.’’ When the android let a shriek, Gavin almost stepped back; it was an unexpected sound- full with agony and sadness. Then the android turned to RK900, the gun was still on its hand. ‘’Did you know that I watched the deviant hunter talking to an unlucky PL600? I watched when they shot him; I know you’re going to do the same thing to me. You have the same face-!’’

Gavin shivered.

‘’Well good thing is my partner is a deviant like you.’’ He sounded so much calmer than he felt. ‘’He may share his face with that model –who is currently a deviant as well- but he is so much better than him.’’

He took another step, now he was in front of it; funnily enough he knew RK900 was about to pull him back. Maybe throw him over its shoulder like a potato sack and just run away!

‘’What do you really want, Beau?’’ He thanked his academy days, even the androids were reacting the same as human victims. ‘’Don’t you want your freedom?’’

‘’I…’’

‘’You can kill that guy but that will fix nothing. I already told you; I know how you feel, what’s the worst could happen if you trust me?’’

‘Beau’ finally looked at Gavin and for a scary, long second; Gavin almost thought it was going to snap Johnson’s neck despite everything he said. For that long second, Gavin felt the cold failure in his whole body.

Then, Beau dropped the man, RK900 was so much faster than him at catching Johnson; but he was fast enough to hold the mutilated android before it dropped to its knees. The ambulances were near, he heard the loud noises; he was right about RK calling the ambulances then.

‘’Shh, I got you.’’ He whispered, Beau was so much taller than him so hugging it was… a weird experience. ‘’Okay, **shit** , you’re heavy,’’ Gavin laughed nervously but he kept hugging Beau until RK900 finally came to rescue him.

Everything after that happened in such a bizarre speed; honestly he was too tired to actually care. He wanted some coffee, to scream to RK900 for leaving him behind but firstly he wanted coffee so he didn’t pay attention to his android partner.

That's why, the surprised looks of RK900 went unnoticed by him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: This chapter was going to be so much longer but I was too tired to continue, press F to pay respects :/


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When he was younger, and by younger he meant when he was a literal teen, he idolized the legendary Hank Anderson. He was everything he wanted to be; a hero who could do nothing wrong. He was perfect- Gavin lived Hank’s golden years with him, and Gavin wanted to be just like him. Frankly, there was a reason why so many teens were interested on becoming a cop in The Screaming Twenties; working with the legendary Hank Anderson sounded just like angels’ prayers to their ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you my beta reader, @/apeironstella ♡♡♡

The android had been refusing to talk with anyone; it was currently sitting on the empty desk and looking at its hands as if those were the most important thing in its life. Watching it hurt Gavin’s brain; he knew he was the one who would have to talk with it, and yet, he wasn’t ready. Oh no, he was not ready _at all._   

 He analyzed SQ100 again; while hugging it, he had not noticed, but it was definitely around **6’6**. If it wanted, it could’ve _easily_ broken its handcuffs; not only because he was a military android, but also Johnson gave it some expensive upgrades that doubled its limits. Unlike the rest of the SQ series, its head was not shaved, no. It actually had a sweet, _honey blond hair_ and matching _amber eyes_ \- Beau was definitely a wet dream of Wyatt Johnson; a muscular man with the perfect features.  Even its  _name_ was pointing out that.  

Gavin huffed with annoyance. After they returned to the department, Fowler was rather impressed by their performance, and it was the most satisfying feeling he’s ever felt in years. What a pity, his mood did not stay like that for a long time.  

At least, he was going to stop working on the android cases after talking with Beau and closing their current case, Fowler owed him that, right?  

**_Right?_ **

Gavin was unreasonably stressed; despite the fact that they successfully saved both the SQ100 model android and its owner, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable about how RK900 left him behind back there. While waiting for the interrogation of the SQ100, his whole body was tense; he felt like he was about to throw up. And worst of all, with every passing second, he felt even worse. He immediately knew there was no way he could handle this interrogation without spitting the curse words he specially prepared for his android partner.  

He glanced at his right side where RK900 was talking with Connor; the older android wanted to join them because he was curious as well, and, Gavin hated to admit but having Connor at his side was not that bad. Though, he wasn’t going to let Connor walk into the room and see Beau, who would probably lose all of its respect to Gavin in a second. No, **The Mighty Deviant Hunter** was going to stay behind the glass.  

 Before he called RK900, he noticed how their hands were touching- their skin was deactivated partly, they were interfacing. Gavin more or less knew about interfacing: the plastics were sharing their memories via skin touch. Their connection looked like kind of personal and intimate; and he guessed if he interrupted them, RK900 would be definitely a pain in the ass for the next days- he learnt this lesson just after the day they fought. So, he respected their weird hand thingy, but even just doing that was making him feel all the way more pissed. 

 Gavin was trying, okay? He knew he was incredibly lucky to have RK900 as his partner – he hated having partners, but he loved having useful stuff and it was the most advanced toy he’s ever had. So, he tried his best to keep up with it- he truly tried to be a _decent partner_ ; that way, he wouldn’t lose his job or his self-respect. And what was his reward? RK900 leaving him behind and not looking back!  

 

 

‘’Detective, are you okay?’’ RK900’s calm voice snapped him back to the reality; it was staring at him for the last five minutes. His cheeks flushed up with anger, he must have been looking really stupid, and he hated looking stupid in front of the android.  

 ‘’I’m fine, but we have to _talk_ ,’’ Gavin replied quickly, ~~_emphasising on the 'talk'_~~ and shot a look at Connor, ‘’alone, preferably.’’  

 Connor raised an eyebrow, but walked out after saying ‘’Let me know when you two are done,’’ to RK900; which he replied with ‘’It’ll only take five minutes’’ before Connor left. The RK800 model was acting like a big brother to the RK900, and Gavin wondered if that was because of Anderson; maybe hanging around with the man made Connor feel like he wanted a family of his own. Or maybe he just saw him as a brother because they shared the same goofy face. Regardless, he was much more softer when he was around RK900. And RK900 was acting similar around him, almost like _**Connor**_  was his partner, not **_Gavin_**.  

 Gavin sighed when Connor finally left the room; they had fairly little time before they started the interrogation, so, he directly spilled what was on his mind throughout the afternoon.  

 ‘’Okay, now, tell me just what the **fuck** you were doing back there?’’ He was clearly enraged, and he wanted RK900 to understand this. ‘’What were you thinking?’’  

 ‘’I… What? I don’t know what you are talking about, detective Reed.’’ It sounded calm, but Gavin was aware that it knew what he was talking about. He felt proud at being able to notice the android’s lie; just a week before, he had no idea what RK900 felt under its emotionless mask. But Gavin was a detective for a reason, he was smart and loved riddles, and damn, _wasn’t RK900 a goddamn puzzle_ \- he studied its face for hours just to make sense of its mini-expressions, and his effort were paying off finally.  

‘’Weren’t we supposed to be partners?’’ He spat, tone mocking. ‘’You told me to keep up with you, and I did! I never slowed you down, I didn’t complain too much about the paperwork! When I ignore you in the field, you act like I committed some kind of treason, but then you turn around and straight up do this bullshit!’’  

 

 

‘’I **don’t** -‘’ RK900 started again but Gavin did not give it the time to defend itself, no, it lost its chance and he was going to make it not forget that again!  

 ‘’Do not fucking lie to me, you are not even that good at lying. You left me behind even though you promised me to not to do this if I play with your rules.’’ Gavin walked closer and pointed at its hard chest. ‘’You didn’t keep your promise as my partner, how do you expect me to trust you when you cannot even trust me fully?’’   

‘’My apologies, detective.’’ RK900 didn’t look at him in the eye, and that made Gavin feel smug- He was right then. The android definitely needed to learn how to be a good partner like Gavin! ‘’I did not mean to insult you like this, I…’’  

‘’You _what_? Thought that I was **_lesser than you?_ ** That I was _**not good enough for you?’’**_ Gavin waited a bit, but it wasn’t breaking the silence, nor looking at him. Then, the android did a weird thing; it dropped its ‘Oh I am so calm and collected’’ act, and mumbled with a voice crack.  

‘’I was _stressed_.’’  

With that, Gavin stopped smirking. ‘’You were stressed?’’  

Now, that was new- That was not the answer he was looking for, at all. He was expecting an arrogant reply, something like ‘’I thought you couldn’t keep up with me’’ or something along that line. This, however, came out of the blue- something utterly unexpected. 

RK900 nodded, it was still religiously insisting on not looking at him. ‘’When I realized what was happening, I felt nervous- I know the androids you’ve talked with before either tried to shoot you or self destructed…’’ Gavin opened his mouth but it was right, he didn’t have the cleanest track record when it came to androids. ‘’… and I know you can’t stand androids. I thought it would be the best if I can handle the situation alone. I didn’t want you to get hurt.’’ RK900 sounded apologetic, but something was bugging Gavin.  

‘’You were supposed to an upgraded version of Connor,’’ Gavin laughed cruelly, and yet, his chest was hurting for some reason, ‘’and you made a mistake he would never do. You almost shot that SQ100, you almost screwed our mission up! I don’t even know what to say. I should fucking ask Fowler if he can separate us, because you are an useless piece of shit who can’t even handle emotions properly.’’  

It did not talk. Then, after a moment of silence, perhaps thanks to the silence, Gavin Reed realized what was making him feel uneasy.  

 

 

 ‘’What the fuck? Are you embarrassed?’’ Gavin tried not to laugh, but his lips were betraying him; he was slowly forgetting the long list of complains because RK900 was looking so… pathetic?  

  ~~ ** _Pathetic and shy._**~~

 ‘’No, I- Well, you are my partner, and-‘’ RK900, for the first time in its life, sounded like a real human for a second, ‘’I am definitely not embarrassed, detective, just a bit nervous.’’  

 He almost made an inappropriate sound, it was too hilarious. The android’s cheeks were turning  _blue_ ; he didn’t even know that it was possible for non-domestic androids. And even with them, they were only simulating the natural _red_ blush of humans, not this. ‘’Oh my god, you are blushing, this is too fucking great, where the fuck is my phone-‘’  

RK900 finally turned to him with wide eyes but Gavin was faster, he grabbed his phone and took the photo of RK900 with fully blue cheeks in that exact second. This was going to a perfect blackmail material later; he could feel it in his bones. And, to make sure that RK900 wouldn’t hack his phone and delete the proof, he sent it to Chris and Tina with an _‘’I’ll explain later’’_ note.  

 His morning utterly sucked, but at least his afternoon wasn’t half bad.  

 ‘’Detective,’’ RK900 said, with his face suddenly returning to its usual paleness, leaving Gavin irked, ‘’I’m sorry for leaving you behind. It won’t happen again, I promise.’’ RK900’s voice was yet again emotionless too, and, Gavin almost thought he imagined its blue face. Thankfully, he had the evidence on his phone.  

‘’Ah, by the way-‘’ He started, he wanted to ask why he called him ‘’Gavin’’ back there, and yet, someone knocking the door distracted him. _It is okay,_ he thought, _I could ask it later._

An android and a man walked in- Hank Anderson and his RK800 model android, Connor.  

‘’Are you guys done?’’ Connor looked at them with Anderson at his side- Gavin blinked; he remembered Hank not wanting to join them- but then again, Hank had no power against Connor’s puppy eyes.  

 ‘’Heard that you handled that android well, good job, Reed.’’ Hank said, with glee in his eyes, Gavin almost mistook it for pride, but that was impossible after all those years; Anderson was likely joking around.  

 

 

Gavin looked at Hank, and instead of welcoming him with a childish attitude, he blurted an awkward ‘’Yeah, uh, nice to see you Anderson,’’.  

 Anderson looked at him with a surprised expression, but didn’t comment on his sudden politeness, fortunately. ‘’You too, Reed.’’ He responded, making Gavin feel pretty much like the rookie he once was. Hank’s clean beard and clothes probably had something with that; Lieutenant was looking as sharp as he was before that certain accident.  

Hank turned to RK900, to learn how things went, quickly ignoring the odd word choices of Gavin, and Gavin was grateful for that. He sighed, focusing on the android on the other side of the glass- However, his mind was instead full with memories of his rookie days.  

When he was younger, and by younger he meant when he was a literal teen, he idolized the legendary _Hank Anderson._ He was everything he wanted to be; a hero who could do nothing wrong. He was perfect- Gavin lived Hank’s golden years with him, and Gavin wanted to be just like him. Frankly, there was a reason why so many teens were interested on becoming a cop in **The Screaming Twenties;** working with the legendary Hank Anderson sounded just like angels’ prayers to their ears.  

 He flushed with embarrassment when he remembered their first meeting; it was literally the worst setting to meet with his idol- And yet, things turned out fine; so who was he to complain? Teen Gavin was an unlucky son of a bitch, but simultaneously he also had the best luck.  

 ‘’Hey, Anderson?’’ He said, then paused. ‘’Do you remember how we met?’’  

 Hank stopped talking with RK900 after hearing his question, and Gavin noticed his small smile again. He knew he made a mistake by asking that question while the androids were around, listening them with their creepy hearing features; yet he didn’t know if he’d have the courage to ask it later.  

‘’Why, of course,’’ Hank chuckled and Gavin died inside instantly, ‘’how could I forget saving a bloody street rat’s ass?’’  

 Gavin rolled his eyes. ‘’Don’t say it like that, I was perfectly fine.’’  

 ‘’You broke your damn _nose_ , Reed.’’ Hank pointed out. ‘’I thought you were fucking dead. Do you know how I felt when I found a half dead teen’s body?’’  

 

 

‘’I was _**mostly**_ fine,’’ Gavin snorted, everyone knew how he got his nose scar; teen Gavin sure liked picking up fights. ‘’And I wasn’t dead, right? I just passed out a bit.’’  

‘’You were impossible to deal with, but, who am I kidding? You still are.’’ Hank shook his head like he was tired of his nonsense despite the giant, genuine smile on his lips; it truly made Gavin feel like everything was fine once again, like he never saw Hank playing Russian roulette before. He wanted to be alone with Hank, just to ask him a question he wanted to ask for freaking years, but the androids were still there- An unfortunate detail both he and Hank noticed at the same exact moment. 

‘’Uh, anyway,’’ Hank cleared his throat, the magical aura disappearing, ‘’are you going to talk with your guy, or not?’’  

 RK900 looked at Gavin like it was asking the same question; weirdly enough, even though its LED was a calm blue, Gavin was able to guess that it was thinking something.  

 ‘’It’s best if I talk to him first,’’ he said, getting his emotions under control, ‘’he trusts me and if I need help, I will let you know.’’ He paused for a second, then sighed. ‘’It’s such a shame that we can’t talk with Johnson, the lucky bastard lost too much blood and now the doctors say that he cannot talk before he recovers.’’  

‘’Beau, was it?’’ Connor looked at the mutilated android. ‘’I’m surprised he remembered my face, I wasn’t quite publicly known before I deviated.’’  

‘’He remembers your pre-deviancy mission,’’ RK900 seemed thoughtful, Gavin wondered what it was thinking, ‘’he still refers you as the Deviant Hunter.’’  

Connor bit its lower lip; the RK800 was looking more and more human-like every passing day. Funnily enough, thanks to listening Connor’s conversations with Hank, Gavin knew the savior of the humanity was struggling to live with both humans and androids alike. Because of Connor’s past, the androids were not ready to fully trust him even though he played an active part in the revolution. And with humans, he felt too much like a machine –except when he was with Anderson, of course-.  

Gavin gave himself a stretch before entering the interrogation room, putting most friendly smile he could manage, which was a literal pain for him; he was cut for playing the bad cop. He was not comfortable with this good cop act, at all. Really, things he did for his job…  

 ‘’Hello, Beau, it’s nice to see you again.’’  

 

 

 The android that spent its whole time staring at the empty wall and not responding to people suddenly snapped his attention to Gavin, gaze filled with hope. ‘’It’s you again, ah... I don’t remember you telling me your name.’’  

 ‘’It’s Gavin.’’ Gavin sat down on the chair; his eyes were still fixed on Beau. ‘’Sorry for not telling it before, we really did not meet in the best time.’’  

 Beau quickly glanced at its hands; Gavin wondered if it was scanning what traces were left from Johnson’s blood, military androids had that feature, after all. ‘’I’m sorry for that, I…’’  

‘’Beau, I need to ask you some questions,’’ Gavin said, putting his hand on its shoulder, ‘’I hope this is okay with you, I need you to answer me honestly.’’  

 SQ100 pushed his hand like it was made out of fire; it was so sudden that Gavin blinked with surprise- Was he moving too fast? Was he acting without thinking? Was he-  

 The android grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently. Gavin sighed in relief. ‘’I’m sorry, I’m not used to other people touching me, I usually only let him touch me.’’ Beau gave him an apologetic smile, but Gavin saw how it was so close to tearing up again- It was trying to feel what it was craving for normally; love and softness.  

 ‘’What was your relationship with Wyatt Johnson exactly?’’ Gavin asked softly. ‘’How did you two end up like… that?’’  

 Beau chuckled but the tears were falling down already, it wiped them with its skinless hand. Talking was rather difficult for the android; Gavin felt the pity spreading from his heart to his chest.  

 ‘’SQ series were designed to replace the human soldiers,’’ The SQ100 whispered shakily, ‘’I was the very first prototype of the android soldiers. People who designed me wanted me to be a unique model; they designed me to be more than a mere soldier. No, not the people who designed me, the person who was designing me; Wyatt.’’  

Beau looked at the table; the android was smiling despite looking like it was in pain.  

  ‘’I was activated in 2028 and quickly after that, Wyatt took me and left the Cyberlife, they noticed his experiments to make the androids more human-like. Even the androids like me who were only supposed to be the death reapers to the enemy troops. I still don’t know how he managed to take me with him, but we were both free from Cyberlife. I… We… We _were_ happy.’’  

 

 

Gavin was feeling the tension rising up and he had no idea how to control it. He helplessly looked at the glass, yet nobody came to rescue him; he had to handle this mess then. Good. Fucking RK900. ‘’What happened after leaving Cyberlife?’’ He asked, genuinely interested this time. ‘’What did you two do?’’ 

‘’I fell in love with him.’’  Suddenly Beau sounded too proud, like it was proving its worth. ‘’He held my hands and told me how he was going to protect me from _everything_ \- He is not much taller than you, Gavin, he is not even as strong as he thinks. But he stood there and told me that he wanted to protect me from the war, from the Cyberlife and from the world.’’  

 Something dawned on Gavin.  

 ‘’You deviated… _because of love?_ ’’ Gavin felt dizzy – he was hearing a military android deviating because of love for God sake!-, he had to see this coming, yet he was so confused, he didn’t even stop Beau from talking about unrelated topics- it started to trust him slowly, which was important for their case.  

 ‘’Yes, I’ve never felt anything but love with him, he made me feel like I was everything, like I was the center of his universe. And for my love, I…’’ The relaxed expression on its face disappeared; Gavin now knew that it was about to talk about the main dish. ‘’I did horrible things, I betrayed my own kind.’’  

 ‘’The androids…’’ Things cleared up at once: Wyatt was not qualified enough to kidnap those androids, but an android like _Beau on the other hand…_

 ‘’It was me,’’ Beau whispered with shame, confirming his thoughts, ‘’I kidnapped them for him, because he was in need of money and there were people who wanted expensive, illegal things. For the last five months I helped him to upgrade models; he redesigned them to be able to fight like monsters and then he sold them to those people.’’  

 ‘’But they were not enough for his clients,’’ Gavin guessed, still confused about why would someone buy androids like those-? ‘’They wanted a stronger model.’’  

 

‘’I thought of nothing when he started upgrading me, and it was too late when I found out his plans to sell me. _**My love,** _ he was going to sell me to these people. He promised to protect me, but he didn’t keep his promise... That was why I wanted to hurt him, because he betrayed my love.’’  

Wyatt was a sick bastard; even Gavin, a damn android hater, felt ill after hearing Beau’s words. Being betrayed like that sounded so horrible that he almost missed Beau detailing how and when they kidnapped those poor androids, as well as how they changed their bodies and who they were selling them to.  

 Gavin took a deep breath, did he hear that correctly? Was he really hearing things correctly? Because if he was, that meant they were not going to close this case soon and he did not want that. ‘’What did you say?’’ He said, while trying to not sound too surprised and/or pissed. ‘’An underground, _what_?’’  

 ‘’An underground fight club,’’ Beau looked at him in the eyes, its soft amber eyes were shining, ‘’where androids fight for their lives. That’s why we never had hard time with finding new clients, there is rather high demand.’’ 

Its expression changed, Gavin guessed it was because it was remembering how Wyatt was going to sell it to the literal mafia despite knowing that it was probably going to be destroyed. He was not an android, but he could practically see its stress level rising up; he had no idea how he was going to deal with that, he **needed help-**

The opening of the door surprised both of them, RK900 entering the room. While Gavin relaxed, the SQ100’s LED immediately went red for a minute; it was still scared of RK900. But because Gavin was still holding its hands, it calmed down fairly quickly.  

 Seeing RK900 made him feel relaxed because with it at his side, he was no longer in danger. And, apparently, RK was thinking the same thing for it put its right hand on his shoulder.

‘’Do you know where it is?’’ His android partner put its other hand on the table, offering the interfacing. ‘’If you tell us the location of-‘’  

Beau shook its head with sadness. ‘’No, I don’t know, I’ve never talked with clients or visited the place. But I think I know _someone_ who knows where it is.’’  

Gavin had a very bad feeling about this, it felt just like the scenes in the movies where the bad guys fool the heroes; was that a trap? Was Beau only playing his part? They needed to talk with Johnson later, he definitely did not like Beau’s tone; but he asked the question anyway. He ignored his unease about such small details; they were no help for their case. 

‘’And who is that person?’’  

 

 

 

 

 SQ100’s LED circled _yellow_ , then _**red**_. And then, the peaceful blue was back just like its smile. Its answer was clear and loud.  

**‘’Elijah Kamski.’’**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *while writing this chapter* AM I RUSHING THINGS 
> 
> My friends: Philippe it's been fucking 10k words without them even touching


End file.
